Sign up for Spring Performance     [accordion open=”0″] [accordion-item title=” ‘Frog’ Turnout stretch”]Lying on your back with the soles of your feet together, let your knees fall and relax. [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Quadriceps stretch”]Keeping your quads loose is very important to the function of the knee and helps to prevent patellar tendonitis or jumper’s knee. Standing Quad Stretch

1. Stand in a parallel position with correct posture, then bring your left foot towards your buttock with your left hand.
2. Keep knees together. If you do not feel a stretch in the front of your left thigh, move the left knee backward until you do feel the stretch. (Engage abdominal muscles and tuck pelvis under trying to prevent your rear end from sticking out. Try to get knee further back than pelvis.) SEE PHOTO
3. You should have no knee pain while doing this stretch.
4. Repeat with the right leg.

Half-Kneel Quad Stretch

1. Kneel on the left knee, and the reach behind you to pull your left foot up to your buttocks with your left hand (SEE PHOTO).
2. You should feel a stretch in the front of your left thigh. If you have any knee pain, stop.
3. Hold position for one minute.
4. Repeat stretch on the right leg.

              [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Pretzel stretch”]The deep hip rotators become very tight in dancers because they spend so much time in a turned-out position. This tightness can cause an imbalance in the muscles around the hip.

1. Sitting on the floor, cross one leg over the other at the knees.
2. Lean forward with a flat back until you feel a stretch in the buttocks (see photo).
3. If this hurts your knees at all, back off the stretch.
4. You can also do this stretch on your back, bringing your knees toward your chest.
5. Repeat with the other leg on top.

  [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Figure 4 Stretch”]This stretches the gluteus and its attachment to the illiotibial (IT) band.

1. Place you right lower leg (from knee to ankle) on the barre (or other horizontal surface), with leg turned out and knee bent to 90 degrees. The standing leg is in parallel (unlike photo).
2. Pelvis should be square and level.
3. Tilt forward from the hip crease (keeping your back straight) until you feel a stretch in your buttocks or the outside of your thigh.
4. Hold for one minute.
5. Repeat with the left leg.

[/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Half-Kneel Hip Flexor Stretch”]It is important to stretch the hip flexors with a neutral or tucked pelvis. This helps stretch the hip for arabesque and takes some of the stress off the lower back.

1. Kneel on your left knee. (Make sure to use padding under your left knee and hold the barre or a chair to maintain your balance, if needed.)
2. Level off your pelvis and tuck your tailbone under by tightening your buttocks muscles.
3. Bend the front knee further, keeping the torso upright, until you feel a stretch in the front outside of your left hip and/or in your left thigh.
4. Hold the position with buttocks tight for 15 seconds and repeat 3-4 times.
5. You can add additional stretch by bending sideways (with port de bras) away from the leg that is stretching.
6. Repeat stretch on right knee.

NOTE: This is not a traditional lunge stretch. You should feel this toward the outside of the front of your hip or in your thigh – not in the groin area. [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Pretzel stretch”]The [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Pretzel stretch”]The [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Hamstring and calf stretch, supine and standing”]It is important to stretch the hamstring with the pelvis level instead of always simply raising the leg as high as possible. This focuses specifically on lengthening the hamstring without involving stretching the muscles in the low back. Standing Hamstring Stretch

1. Place your right leg on the barre (or other suitable-height object) in parallel directly in front of you with the foot flexed.
2. Square off your pelvis, making sure to drop the right hip to be even with the left (if difficult, use a lower “barre”). SEE PHOTO
3. Tilt forward from the hip crease (keeping your back straight) until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
4. Hold for one minute.
5. You can vary the position of your leg – from parallel to turned out – to stretch different parts of your hamstrings. Make sure to include the parallel position.
6. Repeat stretch with left leg.

    [/accordion-item] [accordion-item title=”Pretzel stretch”]The [/accordion-item] [/accordion]

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